Delivery services have been requiring for many decades recipients to sign for packages or parcels in order to insure that the intended person received the shipment. With the advent of new technology, the pen-and-paper method of recording the recipient's identity has become obsolete. Presently, many of the delivery services record the signature electronically and store that signature in a central database which may be accessed later by the sender (e.g., through a website) for verification purposes. However, this system of verification still relies on capturing only the signature of the recipient and does not verify his identity in any other way.
There are a number of problems that arise when such conventional systems are utilized in secure deliveries. For example, the secure deliveries may be packages that contain precious (e.g., gems, bonds, secure documents, etc.) or dangerous items (e.g., chemical and biological agents) which are directed to a very specific recipient (e.g., “diamond district” of New York City, brokerage houses, law firms, laboratories, etc.). The mere recording of the recipient's signature may be insufficient in these situations because it cannot verify if the intended recipient in fact received the package. Sometimes the recipient may have a designated representative who is authorized to receive and sign for the packages. However, when the authorized representative is absent another individual may simply sign for the authorized representative, and thus gaining the access to the contents of the package.